Sega, PlatinumGames sign four-game deal

Former Capcom/Clover team announces Bayonetta, Infinite Line, and Madworld on a variety of platforms.

Now defunct Osaka-based Clover Studio was responsible for a range of successful titles over the years, including the PlayStation 2's Okami (which recently resurfaced on the Nintendo Wii), Viewtiful Joe, and God Hand.

Clover Studio boasted some of Capcom's best talent, including Atsushi Inaba (producer of Viewtiful Joe), Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil creator), and Hideki Kamiya (director of Devil May Cry and Okami). After the publisher closed the studio in 2006, several key members left to start their own studio, Seeds, which has since merged with a company known as ODD to become PlatinumGames.

Viewtiful Joe producer Atsushi Inaba.

At an event in London on Monday, Sega and PlatinumGames announced they had inked a deal for four new-IP games, which will be the studio's first. While brief details were given for three of the games, the fourth--directed by Shinji Mikami--remains under wraps for now.

Hideki Kamiya will direct Bayonetta, an action adventure game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 that looks similar to Devil May Cry. The game follows the eponymous protagonist, a witch reborn in a modern-day setting, waging war against angels. Details were scant, but the core experience focuses unique "witch-like abilities" and her array of guns--which apparently protrude from both her hands and her feet.

Infinite Line, a sci-fi role-playing game, will be coming to Nintendo DS, and is being co-developed with Japan-based Nude Maker. It will be directed by Hifumi Kouno, who is president of Nude Maker and also helmed the Capcom mech sim Steel Battalion.

The game, inspired by the Arthur C. Clarke novel Childhood's End, sees players embark upon a journey to become captain of a spaceship. With over 200 ship designs and a wide variety of ship parts to choose from, players will need to apply some thought, both when building their vehicle and when choosing the appropriate crew to man it.

The final game announced at the event was Madworld, an ultraviolent action game coming to the Wii and directed by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. The game has a stylised black-and-white palette, with bright red blood providing the only splash of colour onscreen. Madworld bears a striking resemblance to the Frank Miller comic series Sin City and the recent Gears of War 2 announcement trailer. Coincidentally, "Mad World" is also the title of a song that featured in an Xbox 360 Gears of War television advertisment.

The developers said they aren't setting out to make a depraved or perversely violent game with Madworld, but rather a game focused on "fun," comical violence.

PlatinumGames said they felt the Wii was missing "such a game [as] Madworld," with many games on the platform being too similar to one another. A brief gameplay segment was shown at the announcement press conference in which the game's lead character, Jack, used a chainsaw--controlled with a flick of the Wii Remote--to slice up foes, and was able to perform finishing moves such as impaling them on a nearby spiked wall.

The game also features Bloodbath Challenge minigames. One demonstrated was called Man Darts, where the object was to splatter enemies onto a giant oversized dartboard by swinging a baseball bat at the correct time.

Bayonetta, Infinite Line, Madworld, and the fourth, untitled game are currently in development and have not yet been dated. GameSpot will reveal more details as they emerge.

The reason I see the creators at Platinum as great designers is simple: they do not try to milk their creations, and instead try to make them perfect the first time.
In particular, none of Kamiya's games' sequels (if any, unless directed by him anyway) have been as good as their original. Devil May Cry is still a must-play classic for any PS2 owner, as are VJ and Okami. If he's going to be working on another Devil May Cry-type game, and it's a unique IP, then this is certainly looking like a good decision for Sega.
Honestly I can imagine a lot of ways that Bayonetta can be fun to play. I'm sure a lot of you have seen the video, and if you haven't you should.
~ XM

clover? the only great game i remember from them is GODHAND in PS2 or is it a different clover correct me if I'm wrong, it doesn't really matter who gets it right? as long as they get some opportunity. @ rynmis
i agree, do consider the PSP

news flash. Sega ... i mean the real sega from the days of mega drive 2 is in the same league as capcom. recently i take a look at capcom and am truly disgusted . milking every single penny out of the already great and famous and popular franchises they have whilst not having the guts to do something new. infact the last thing they did that was new was LOST PLANET and it wasnt that gud of a game. the ressurection of Bionic Commando is proof of this. i think a classic is only a classic because of the timeline of its release. wy bring something like that back even if its gonna b a gr8 game.personally im not dying for the next gen remake. and i hate them for dissolving CLOVER. good luck making the next okami.if Hideki Kamiya isnt there the next okami ( if there is gonna b 1 ) wont b the okami i played on ma ps2. ill tell it first. the next title after bionic and commando and resi 5 thats gonna b announced is ONIMUSHA 5. not that im complaining. thats 1 title i really am waiting for. every 1 knows the saying u dont know wat u got before u loose it. well CAPCOM doest ..... but tCAPCOMS surely gonna know wat they had after BAYONETTA comes. mark ma words.

Go SEGA!! I will be there to see the rise!!! They need good advertising for Clover Studio's type of games. People look at them and dont know anything about them and wont take the chance on a $60 game they dont know about. If these games get to the people Sega can come become just as good as Capcom.

SEGA!~ w00000t! back to the glory day's, love you sega! finally we will PWN!
btw, EA sucks! ... forget about them! SEGA
and lets buy these former clover studio members! expand the 4 game contract to ... FOREVER!

woah woah woah, all of this games are from ex-employees of Capcom who now work for SEGA??!! They all moved to SEGA??!!!!! OMG!!!! O_O This is some good news for me and for all SEGA fans out there, SEGA is really going to bring a smackdown soon, and one that will mark all gaming companies!!!

I am interested in mad world, No More Heroes has got me in the mood for another over the top fighting game and if there is one genre that sega knows how to do its a button masher, not to mention the fact that clover is working on this

Quite a coop for Sega if we eventually see games of the caliber of Okami and VJ. Here's hoping PlatinumGames helps bring Sega back to its former heights, rather than Sega drag PG down to its recent disappointing levels.
Go Sega!!!

"Barely making new stuff???? Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Zack & Wiki, Street Fighter 4, Bionic Commando, Devil May Cry 4, Resident Evil 5, Dark Void, Monster Hunter Freedom, Ace Attorney, Perfect Prosecutor, We Love Golf, plus tons of stuff on XBL and PSN. Seriously, name a publisher out there who has released more new stuff than Capcom this generation." -kpsikill-
Word. As sad as it was that Clover Studios got canned, I gotta say Capcom is still defining the world of gaming (Dead Rising anyone?). Plus, Street Fighter 4 looks like a refreshing twist on the 2D fighting genre.

"I can't wait to see what they come up with. They were the brains behind Capcom's success. Now Capcom is without them and now look where they've been, barely making new stuff except re-releasing old stuff." --lamprey263
Barely making new stuff???? Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Zack & Wiki, Street Fighter 4, Bionic Commando, Devil May Cry 4, Resident Evil 5, Dark Void, Monster Hunter Freedom, Ace Attorney, Perfect Prosecutor, We Love Golf, plus tons of stuff on XBL and PSN. Seriously, name a publisher out there who has released more new stuff than Capcom this generation.

I can't wait to see what they come up with. They were the brains behind Capcom's success. Now Capcom is without them and now look where they've been, barely making new stuff except re-releasing old stuff.

Sega really has been developing a reputation for publishing the crazy titles few mainstream companies would be willing to risk money on. I can't imagine EA or Activision publishing Condemned untouched. Now Sega is going where even Capcom dared not to.